The present disclosure is directed to an attachment to a pet training device, such as a clicker used to train a dog.
Training animals to behave as desired is an important aspect of pet ownership, and to this end many training techniques have been utilized over the years. One ubiquitous method of training a dog, for example, uses a clicking device that takes advantage of the phenomenon famously documented by Ivan Pavlov in which an animal can, over time, be conditioned to associate a pleasurable event (in Pavlov's experiment, being fed) with an auditory sound or other event, even to the extent that the animal enjoys the auditory sound itself.
In this method, the dog or other pet is repetitiously given a treat, or other reward, simultaneously with activation of a hand-held clicker after behaving in a desired manner. Eventually, the pet begins to associate the clicking sound itself as a reward, after which a pet owner may simply use the clicker to indicate to the pet approval of behavior.
A typical pet clicker is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,674,153 and comprises a rigid housing surrounding an actuation member that, when actuated—usually by depression with the digit of a hand—emits a clicking sound. Usually, this sound is produced by the deflection of one end of a thin piece of metal relative to another end. Also, when the metal piece is affixed inside the cavity of a housing surrounding the metal piece, that sound may be amplified somewhat. A typical pet clicker may include an aperture at one end of the housing with which to attach the clicker to a key chain, wrist band, or other device to secure the clicker to a belt loop, a hand, etc.
To be effective, the pet clicker is preferably activated as quickly as possible after the pet behaves in a desired manner. One problem that arises is that the pet clicker, when dangling from a wrist or a belt loop, is not ready for activation quickly enough to be of use, as the pet may have changed its behavior while a person grasps for the clicker and positions it in an orientation in which it can be manually actuated, after which the pet would be “rewarded” for the wrong behavior. Conceivably, a pet owner, when walking a dog, for example, could always keep the pet clicker in hand and ready to click the instant it is desired, but this is often inconvenient as the owners hands may be needed for, say, throwing a ball or other matters.
What is desired, therefore, is an improved pet training apparatus that improves the speed at which a pet training device may be actuated from a position that is not grasped in a person's hand.